In Hovering Flight [Hardcover]

Joyce Hinnefeld (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2008

At 34 years of age, Scarlet has come home for the passing of her famous mother, the bird artist Addie Kavanaugh. The year is 2002. Though Addie and her husband, the world-renowned ornithologist Tom Kavanaugh, have made their life in southeastern Pennsylvania, Addie has chosen to die at the home of her dearest friend, Cora. This is because their ramshackle cottage in Burnham, Pennsylvania, is filled with so much history and because, in the last ten years or so, even birdsong has seemed to make Addie angry, or sad, or both. These are the things that Scarlet needs to understand. Cora and Lou (the third woman in Addie's circle) will help Scarlet to see her mother in full. In addition, Scarlet carries her own secret into these foggy days-a secret for Addie, one that involves Cora, too. Joyce Hinnefeld's debut novel is rich in so many ways beyond the taut mother-daughter dynamic and the competition among even the closest of women. The natural world, an artist's vision, the intensity of long-lasting love, the flight of a bird's song and the sighting of an extinct-or perhaps illusory-samll creature all work to shape the plot of the novel. Even the prose seems filled with birdsong-at once raucous and transporting. In its structure and style, In Hovering Flight follows in the tradition of writers like Virginia Woolf, Harriet Doerr and Carol Shields: musical and dramatic, with myriad stories and voices. But the evocative language of this soaring novel is Hinnefeld's own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this provocative and page-turning debut novel, Hinnefeld (Tell Me Everything and Other Stories) recounts the life of bird-lover, environmental activist and artist Addie Sturmer Kavanagh. Opening with Addie's death from cancer, and her troublesome dying wish—clear orders for a brazenly illegal burial—Hinnefeld's narrative migrates to Addie's days as a college art student, when she fell in love with birds and with the professor teaching her their biology, Tom Kavanagh. The early years of Addie and Tom's romance follows their birding and collaboration on an environmental, antiwar birding book destined to become a classic. Soon enough, though, the birth of their daughter, Scarlet, along with Addie's growing political and environmental awareness, relegate romance to the back seat. As Addie's creative vision shifts from avian homage to political tirade, the effects of her outspoken eco-outrage on her daughter, husband and two closest girlfriends are predictable but authentic, and at times moving. Hinnefeld's drama soars, especially in its depiction of Addie's complicated relationship with Scarlet, who's also trying to find her wings. (Sept.)
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Review

A rich first novel about love, loss, and the fragile beauty of nature. Particularly notable for its engrossing details about bird life. Moving. --Library Journal Starred Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Unbridled Books; First edition (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932961585
• ISBN-13: 978-1932961584
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joyce Hinnefeld is the Cohen Chair in English and Literature at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa. She is the author of a short story collection, Tell Me Everything and Other Stories (University Press of New England, 1998), which was awarded the 1997 Breadloaf Writer's Conference Bakeless Prize in Fiction in 1997. Her first novel, In Hovering Flight, was a #1 Indie Next Pick.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deeply touched, September 12, 2008

By 

sharon hanks - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Hovering Flight (Hardcover)

I turned to this novel because I've always loved birds. And the story of these people who, like me, appreciate birds and the natural world moved me for that reason. But, even more, this novel touched me deeply, even made me cry over and over, because of the way it depicts both the deep beauty of human relationships and the losses that are involved in loving deeply. I started to read the book early one Sunday, and couldn't put it down, read it right through the day until 1 a.m. And now I've loaned it to a good friend, but I can't wait until she gives it back, because I want to read it again, to immerse myself in it once more. It's not often that I wish to re-read a book I've just finished. I recommend the book highly."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a soaring new talent, October 23, 2008

By 

Jackie Blem (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Hovering Flight (Hardcover)

This book is a gentle look at the many forms of passion-- for a cause, a friendship, a lover, a spouse, a child, a way of life--and how they can come full circle in the course of a life. The main theme is environmentalism, but so many different stories and years are woven into it that its tapestry is almost too rich to describe. This is Hinnefeld's
debut novel--it's clearly the start of what will be a brilliant career for her.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Touching Story of love & passion in a world filled with the beauty of nature., August 19, 2009

By 

S. Levin "Chick with Books" (Danbury, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Hovering Flight (Hardcover)

I found In Hovering Flight to be thought provoking and stirring. I started reading it and couldn't put it down until I finished it. It begins with a daughter coming home to say goodbye to her mother dying of cancer. Addie, the mother, a famous bird artist and environmental activist, is surrounded by her best friends from college, Cora & Lou, and her dear husband, Tom. In saying goodbye, we are whisked off to the beginning of Addie and Toms humble beginnings as student and college professor, lovers who are passionate about the natural world around them. We learn of a complicated life, of the strength of friendship and the agony of betrayal and how the sum of everything draws everyone back to Addie in the end. With the gentle remembrances of the people most important to Addie, Addies daughter Scarlet gains a better understanding of her mother and who she really was. On the surface it is a love story of Addie, & Tom. But just below it is a beautifully written story of the nature that surrounds us and the gifts that it can give us if we just stand still for a moment and take it all in.... listen to the song of the birds... feel the crush of the grass underneath our feet... Watch the soar of a hawk... and how life is precious for all of nature and we should try and appreciate it all while we can.

Bird lovers will appreciate the poetic voice Joyce Hinnefeld lends to the descriptions of the patient wait in the woods to see a scarlet tanger, a wood thrush or a beautiful cardinal, and the mysterious deciphering of a bird song heard in the distance. I've actually gone to Cape May birding during fall migration and this story captures the wonder of it all...

It's a beautifully written story. One that you may find yourself reading passages from again just to revisit the beauty of nature....

I was privileged to receive a review copy of this from the publisher to share my opinion with my readers of my blog, Chick with Books.